Zee Wong

    zedwong@163.com

    RICE cake can be conveniently made into many delicious dishes. It can be a dessert when sweetened, cut into thin slices and deep-fried. It can also be an appetizer when dipped in an egg mixture and then stir-fried. However, the very first rice cakes were very roughly made. About 2,500 years ago, people unearthed some glutinous rice bricks underneath a city gate that saved them from starvation. Those rice bricks were rice cakes invented by Wu Zixu.

    Wu is a highly controversial individual in Chinese history. The controversy started when King Ping of the Chu State (1042-223 B.C.) killed his father and brother. When Wu learned of their deaths, he heavily grieved and started planning vengeance.

    After many twists and turns, he sought shelter from the Wu State. Eventually, Wu led the foreign army of the Wu State in an invasion of the Chu State. By the time he seized Chu, King Ping was dead. Wu dug up the king’s body and whipped it 300 times to appease his anger.

    Wu’s intensity was matchless in his era, so was his intelligence. Wu helped Fuchai, the succeeding king of the Wu State, to expand the state’s territory. Furthermore, Wu detected a threat from the Yue State. However, Fuchai was still suspicious of Wu’s loyalty and ordered him to death.

    Before Wu died, he arranged two things. First, he asked people to make bricks out of glutinous rice and use them as the foundation of the city gate. Secondly, he asked that his eyes be gouged out after his death and set upon the city gate. Wu did not want to miss “seeing” the downfall of the Wu State.

    Indeed, everything happened as Wu foretold. Goujian, the king of the Yue State, invaded and took control of the Wu State. The Wu people were trapped in the city and suffered from famine. Fortunately, Wu’s rice cakes under the city gate saved them.

    Rice cake, thanks to its auspicious Chinese name, is symbolic during the Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year. The festival is celebrated for 15 days starting from the first day of the lunar year.

    Rice cake is written as “年糕” (niángāo) in Chinese. “年” means year, while “糕” means cake. Coincidentally, “糕” shares the same pronunciation with “高,” which means high. Therefore, rice cake carries the meaning of yearly （年） improvement （高）. People eat rice cake during the Spring Festival to wish for higher status in the coming year.

    The characters “年” and “高” are also embedded in the popular couplet below:

    “一帆风顺年年好, 万事如意步步高。” (Yīfán fēngshùn niánniánhǎo, wànshìrǘyì bùbùgāo). It means “May you be blessed and make progress each year. Bon voyage!”

    Finally, I would like to extend the above wishes to my readers now that this series is at an end. Thank you!

    Zee Wong is a Chinese student at Carnegie Mellon University who is also offering an innovative course in Chinese language and culture to multinational students and professionals.